This invention relates to a connector construction, and more particularly to a connector construction for connecting, for example, a flexible flat cable board (FFC) having a plurality of parallel disposed, flat-type conductors covered with an insulative resin.
Flexible flat cables, such as the above-mentioned flexible flat cable board (FFC) and a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) formed by printing an electrical conductor on an insulative film, have heretofore been extensively used in a wire harness, which interconnects electric parts in a body and a door of an automobile, and various kinds of equipments such as a computer, since the flat cable can be mounted in a narrow space because of its construction, and also can be provided on a moving part because of its flexible nature.
Such a flexible cable itself is flexible as described above, and therefore for connecting this cable to a connector, its end must be formed into a rigid terminal structure. In the prior art, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, an end portion of a cable 1 at which a conductor 2 is exposed is secured to a holder 3 in the form of a rigid plate, thereby providing a terminal structure. The cable 1 having this terminal structure is inserted, together with the holder 3, into a connector housing 4 from an opening 5 formed in a front side of the housing 4, and is press-contacted with a spring piece 6a of each resilient connection terminal 6 received in the connector housing 4, thereby making electrical connection.
One example of forming the end portion of the cable 1 into a terminal structure will now be described in further detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. A plurality of fixing pins 3a formed on the surface of the flat plate-like holder 3 pass respectively through positioning mounting holes 1a which are formed through the cable 1 and disposed between conductors of the cable 1, thereby integrally joining the cable and the holder together. Alternatively, the cable 1 can be integrally joined to the holder 3 by an adhesive.
Such an integral construction is necessary for preventing the cable 1, connected to the connector, from being withdrawn from the housing by a pulling load acting on the cable 1 in a direction of an arrow.